This is hidden brain.
I'm Shankar Vedantam.
There's so much in our popular culture about the power of positive thinking.
We're often told to follow our hearts, to dream big.
You can have, do, or be anything you want.
Whatever belief you hold in your subconscious mind will become your reality.
Bottom value yourself and believe in yourself.
Because believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart, even when it leads you off the well worn path.
But now, researcher Gabrielle Etienne says maybe we should all dream a little smaller.
Positive fantasies in daydreams, as pleasurable they are, they have a problem when it comes to fulfilling our wishes and attaining our goals.
Gabrielle is a professor at New York University and author of the book rethinking positive thinking inside the New Science of Motivation.
She's from Germany, and she said, growing up, no one told her to shoot for the stars.
I was raised in Europe, and the idea of big dreams, big hopes, was, if at all, more implicit than explicit.
When she came to the United States, though, Gabrielle noticed a real cultural difference.
Well, when I came to America, it was wonderful because people always said, yes, do it.
Yes, that's possible.
Yeah, okay, this is a good idea.
Why don't you do it?
Whereas back in Europe, people were more cautious and said, you know, are you sure you want to do this?
Are you sure this is possible?